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Slingerland Jam Slam Drum Set
by Chris Bereznay Reposted with permission from Music Gear Review About 3 weeks ago, a disgruntled UPS delivery person showed up at the doorsteps of Music Gear Review with several gigantic boxes. I could tell by the look on his face that he wasn't terribly enthused. Much to his dismay however, I was. With a big cheesy grin I opened the door as he wheeled the cartons in. After a week of anticipation, the Slingerland Jam Session drum set had arrived from MusicYo! When someone mentions drum sets, the first brands to come to mind are usually the Pearls, Yamahas, and Tamas of the world. However Slingerland is a brand that's been around for a long time and is played by several well known drummers. Slingerland actually began manufacturing drums in 1928! Through the years, many famous drummers have stood by their Slingerland drums. Among those were Buddy Rich and Gene Krupa, as well as D.J. Fontana (Elvis Presley) - names that may sound obscure to you, but are very well known amongst the drumming community. You probably didn't realize that some of today's most talented drummers also pound the Slingerland skins. Among them include: Tre' Cool (Green Day), Mario Calire (Wallflowers), Paul Doucette (Matchbox 20), Bruce Rutherford (Alan Jackson), Jim Christie (Dwight Yoakam), Billy Thommes (Jonny Lang), Dave Harrison (Edwin McCain Band), Sean Paddock (Kenny Chesney), Dick Gay (Clint Black), Lance Lee (Diana Ross), and Mark Price (Del Amitri). Now that you’ve been introduced to Slingerland, let’s take a look at the kit! Initially we had only asked for the 5 piece, but in addition to that, ended up getting sent a Slingerland Jam Session hardware kit and the Slingerland Cymbal Starter Pak as well. Basically, a complete set with which to commence testing. The other guys that write for us were really excited because now we could test all kinds of gear at once in band-like atmosphere. We have several guitars, basses and amps laying around and we wanted to throw a "review" party where everyone could try everything out. Although most of us play out on occasion, we rarely play together and it's funny how a drum set can bring everyone together. When the day finally came, we ripped through several different genres of music including metal, rock, folk, country and alternative. The Slingerland set was put to the test in each situation and came out with flying colors. Included with the 5 piece Jam Session kit were the following: a 16x22 Bass Drum, 10x12 & 11x13 Toms, a 16x16 Floor Tom, and a 6.5 x 14 Chrome Snare Drum. Except for the chrome snare, everything else was in a Metallic Silver Color. The toms and bass drum are built of 6 ply mahogany and the hardware includes Slingerland's traditional low-mass lugs, a chrome plated triple flange hoop, heavy-duty bass drum spurs and a fully adjustable tom holder. The heads were a combination of coated white batter & clear resonant on the snare, clear heads on the batter & resonant side of toms, and the black Slingerland logo head on resonant side of bass drum and a clear head on the batter side. The cymbal kit included a nice assortment including a pair of 14" hi-hats, a 16" crash cymbal, and a 20" ride. For $89.95 you can’t beat the Slingerland Cymbal Starter Kit! As mentioned, we also received the Slingerland Jam Session Hardware Pack. It included double braced legs, a snare stand, a hi-hat stand, a straight cymbal stand, a boom cymbal stand and a chain-drive bass pedal. Everything was very sturdy, was very easy to adjust and was very high quality. When you add all the kits together, you can’t help but be pleased. Some assembly was required, but it only took about an hour to put the whole thing together. Once the Jam Session kit was up and ready, though, it was time to work out the cobwebs. It has been years since I've played so I had been itching to pound the skins since we first learned the set was on it’s way. Most of my time lately has been focused on enhancing my guitar skills. I know a good drum set when I see one, though, and when you talk about the Slingerland Jam Session kit, the first word that pops out at you is "value". However, I didn’t want to reserve all of the opinions for myself, so I decided to give everyone a chance at the helm. Since we are all musicians, everyone on staff had a chance to play around with the kit and we even invited two very experienced drummers over to pound these skins as well. Everyone was amazed at the price, quality and value of the kit. The price alone of the 5 piece Jam Session kit is amazing enough, but when you add in the hardware and cymbal kits, you’re still only looking at roughly $450 for a well made kit from Slingerland! Unbelievable! What did we think of the quality and materials? 6 ply mahogany in a kit of this price range is impressive. Although kits in higher price ranges are usually made of better materials, the quality built into this set is the perfect match for a kit in this range. The drum shells were draped in a silver metallic "contact paper" and very attractive. Although this isn’t the highest quality way of covering the exteriors of drums, it serves the purpose and is very well done. The hardware was all first rate and the heads were decent as well. Consider the fact that this is a beginner set and the market that the Slingerland Jam Session is aiming for is the budget range and you'll certainly see why we were so pleased with the value built into this set. The most impressive thing would be the drum construction. If you wanted to turn this into a high-octane set, you could easily upgrade the cymbals to Zildjian or Paiste and get some Remo or Evans heads or something on these drums. Still, keep in mind that this 5 pc. set retails for around $229 over at MusicYo! For that price you get the snare, bass, floor tom, and two other toms with heads and hardware. That's a steal. If you’ve ever gone shopping for a new drum set, you know how pricey it can get. Sure, they tell you at the music store that you can get the 5 piece for $600, but by the time you add cymbals, hardware, and other optional accessories you've spent a grand! So how does it sound? Slam-tastic! We've been beating the hell out of these heads and for budget-minded materials, everything has stood up to the test. We're really impressed with the sound quality of the whole set and would whole-heartedly recommend this to anyone looking to pick up a great kit at a great price. We've played everything from heavy metal to country to good old fashioned rock and roll on this set and the tonal characteristics of this Slingerland package has handled everything quite well. Probably the only thing I might not recommend playing with this kit is any type of Jazz. Unfortunately, we've been playing so much with this set that we're going to have to replace the heads before we offer this up for the giveaway contest. ( Oops! Did I let the cat out of the bag? Check out the Contest info below more details! ) Bottom Line: For about $450, you get everything but the throne. That's what it boils down to with the Slingerland Jam Session kit. If you want the 5 piece only, you're looking at $229, the cymbal starter pack will run you $89, and the hardware set - $119. I don't know many other places where you can get a drum set of this quality for this price. Granted, this set isn't in the same league as say a Tama Rockstar or Yamaha Stage Custom. However, it's a perfect set to get started on. You can find competitive sets from other brands and manufacturers as well so make sure you check out the competition. Even if you can find something comparable, though, you probably still are going to have to buy the cymbals. Most kits might come with the stands, but no cymbals. MusicYo! and Slingerland give it all to you at a price you won't find anywhere! EDITORS NOTE: Hot news! MusicYo! has just informed us that they've decided to put all 3 kits together in a package called the Slingerland Jam Slam Set. This whole kit is going for $399 for a limited time! Click on over to MusicYo! and check it out!  |
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